Ashmore offers Petron stake to govt.

London-based Ashmore Investment Management Ltd. is offering to sell back to the Philippine government the 40% stake in Petron Corp. that was privatized last year. Some officials believed that maintaining the government’s equity presence in Petron, which supplies over a third of the country’s oil requirements, can check against cartel-like pricing by the big players. San Miguel Corp.’s option to acquire a controlling stake in Petron would not be affected by the buyback. The option would still cover the shares that Petron bought from Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco), as well as from the public, after a tender offer was completed in July last year. (August 10, 2009)